Now, a Dubai App to Fight Human Trafficking
The phone and computer app allows victims to report crimes and receive legal advice
Mariam M. Al Serkal, Senior Web Reporter, Gulf News
Dubai: Police have launched a smart app – the first of its kind in the region – to combat human trafficking.
How does it work?
The phone and computer app intends to help victims report these types of crimes through the click of a button.
Rebuilding shattered lives after human trafficking
Victims are requested to enter their personal data, ID number and e-mail address, and the type of required assistance. The person will then receive a text message, accompanied with a reference number, confirming that the complaint has been lodged with Dubai Police.
In a statement, Brig. Dr Mohammed Al Murr, Director-General of the General Directorate of Human Rights at Dubai Police, said that the service will help victims report human trafficking victims through the smart app, “so that police officials could reach out and provide them with assistance, including legal support.”
Brig Al Murr said that residents can also notify police through contacting them on e-mail at htccc@dubaipolice.gov.ae or by calling the hotline 800 5005 to report crimes related to human trafficking.
He added that the UAE has adopted a number of programmes, launched various campaigns and initiatives, as well as implementing stringent laws in the fight against human trafficking.
Number of human trafficking victims rescued in the UAE:
2009 - 38
2010 - 71
2011 - 43
2012 - 24
2013 - 23
2014 – 17
Why is the number decreasing, I wonder?
Convict denies kidnapping, raping boy
Prosecutors seek to uphold killer’s execution before Appeal Court
Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Ebrahim Sudqi, father of the deceased child Obaida, along with his daughters Aya Ibrahim and Tala Ibrahim at his residence in Sharjah Industrial area.
Gulf News, Bassam Za'za', Legal and Court Correspondent
Dubai: A death row convict stunned a court on Sunday as he denied kidnapping and raping an eight-year-old boy on May 20 but pleaded guilty to murdering the victim.
In August, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced 49-year-old Jordanian, Nidal Eisa Abdullah, to death for kidnapping, raping and killing the eight-year-old Jordanian boy, Obaida Sedqi, while he was drunk.
Prosecutors appealed the primary judgement and asked the Dubai Appeal Court to uphold the capital punishment against Abdullah, who also appealed and is seeking a reduced punishment.
“Did you kill the victim?” presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif asked the defendant.
“Yes, I did,” replied Abdullah.
Meanwhile, when asked if he had kidnapped and raped Obaida, the defendant entered a not guilty plea saying: “No, I did not.”
“You did not?” presiding judge Al Sharif asked again.
Thereafter, the defendant shook his head, maintaining that he didn’t rape or kill the eight-year-old.
The lawyer of Obaida’s family, Obaid Al Mazmi, produced in court a civil lawsuit in which he asked for the implementation of the capital sentence. He is also seeking Dh21,000 in temporary compensation against his clients’ emotional and moral damages.
“The court will appoint a lawyer to defend the accused when it reconvenes on October 9,” said the presiding judge.
Prosecutors had accused the defendant of kidnapping the boy on May 20 from his father’s garage in Sharjah and then raping and killing him in Al Mamzar. Earlier at the primary court, Abdullah admitted he raped and murdered Obaida but denied kidnapping the victim, who he said had willingly sat with him in the car.
He's really grasping at straws here. It's irrelevant whether the boy sat in the car with him willing or was even willing to go with him. The boy thought he was going to get a scooter, he certainly did not know that he would be going to get raped and murdered.
Prosecutors said the last time the father saw Obaida alive was in Abdullah’s car at 5pm shortly before the latter decided to kidnap and rape the eight-year-old.
Court records said the accused lured the boy to his car by offering to buy him a scooter and then he drove to Al Mamzar area in Dubai.
There, he moved the victim to the back seat and had forced sex with him. He assaulted the boy before he strangled him with a red gotra when the victim tried to defend himself.
Prosecutors accused the defendant of five crimes — premeditated murder, kidnap, rape of a minor, drinking and driving a vehicle under the influence of liquor.
Trio accused of exploiting 2 teenaged girls sexually
Bangladeshi girls allegedly made to pay for passports
with falsified ages to be flown to Dubai
Dubai: A woman and two men have been accused of exploiting the economic situations of two minor girls and coercing them into prostitution after they flew them into Dubai using passports with falsified details.
The two Bangladeshi girls, both aged under 18, were lured with offers of jobs as maids with attractive pay and were said to have had their ages falsified in the passports to be able to fly them into Dubai where they were locked up in a flat in Naif and forced to work as prostitutes in April.
The trio used the flat as a brothel, forced the girls to have sex with strangers and pocketed the earnings.
Records said the girls were asked to pay nearly Dh600 to process new passports with falsified ages to be able to come and work in Dubai as maids for a salary of Dh1,200.
Prosecutors charged the trio with exploiting the girls’ poverty and need for money for sexual benefits and coerced them to work in prostitution in the flat they ran as a brothel.
The woman suspect, J.A., remains at large.
The businessman pleaded not guilty and refuted the accusations when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.
“I did not commit human trafficking or exploit the girls sexually. I had only rented out that flat and did not run it as a brothel,” M.K. told presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.
Meanwhile, M.A. claimed initially that he only worked in the flat and pleaded not guilty.
“What kind of business was being run in the flat?” the presiding judge asked M.A.
Thereafter, M.A. retracted his denial and admitted that the flat was being used for prostitution and he used to hand over the earnings to M.K.
According to the charge sheet, the trio committed human trafficking and ran a brothel. M.K. is also accused of benefiting financially by pocketing the money that a number of prostitutes made from working for him in sex trade.
He was also charged with having consensual sex with one of the girls, possessing 12 bottles of liquor and hiring M.A. to work for him illegally.
Meanwhile, M.A. was additionally charged with overstaying in the UAE and working for someone who is not his sponsor. One of the girls told prosecutors that she is uneducated and her desperate need for money to pay for her father’s medicines made her agree to come to Dubai and work as a maid.
“I divorced four months prior to coming to Dubai. I had met someone called Naim and he convinced me to come and work here … I paid him money to get a new passport issued with a new age after he told me that I was too young to be allowed to travel. A woman welcomed me at the airport and she took me to a car. M.K. drove the car to a flat … they took away my passport. They locked me there for a few days before they said I had to work in prostitution. J.A. was also present in the flat and she told me that she is married and worked in prostitution. I worked as a prostitute after they enticed me to do so and because I needed the money. J.A. used to pay me around Dh2,300 as salary,” she testified to prosecutors.
The other girl gave a similar statement to prosecutors but she added that she had refused to work in prostitution for nearly 15 days. “Then M.K. threatened to publish my nude photos on Facebook before I was convinced to work in prostitution,” she claimed.
An anti-human trafficking police officer claimed that the suspects were arrested after they raided the flat following an informant’s tipoff.
The trial resumes next month.
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